EMMA ALBERICI, PRESENTER: Let's go live to Zoe Daniel now in the Cambodian capital.

Hi, Zoe - we know from your report that Julia Gillard's been in talks to remove trade barriers, which trade barriers in particular were they discussing?

ZOE DANIELS, SOUTH-EAST ASIA CORRESPONDENT: Well, Emma, what they're talking about really is two major free trade agreements. One, the transpacific partnership which is being partly pushed by the United States; and the other, the regional corporative economic partnership which involves ASEAN and six other countries including Australia.

The point is that Australia is only one of six countries involved in both agreements. Now, if they both get up, that will cover around half of the world's population and about a third of global GDP. And the Government's point really in keeping with its white paper for the Asian century is that this region is where consumption is growing.

You're talking about a hugely growing middle class in countries that have been previously seen as developing nations and essentially part of the Third World. They are going to become the big consumers, and Australia wants a part of that. Now before that truly gets under way, they want the trade barriers removed.

EMMA ALBERICI: So, what will this mean, realistically, for Australians; this new enormous trade bloc that you describe?

ZOE DANIEL: Well, what the Prime Minister is saying is that that demand will be there and it's up to Australia to take advantage of it, to fill it. She was asked specifically what industries would benefit and the list was really endless. She talked about manufacturing, she talked about tourism, she talked about financial services, other service industries - all of which can come into the region and benefit from the new consumerism that will be here, and really it's up to Australia and those other countries involved in those trade agreements to try to remove barriers to trade that are essentially protectionism in advance of that.

EMMA ALBERICI: Now, it also raises questions of how you balance economic development with progress on human rights. Was that issue raised during these talks?

ZOE DANIEL: Not quite as directly as that, but I think it's important to realise that not everyone is benefitting from that economic growth. In Cambodia alone, 500,000 people in recent years have been forcibly evicted from their homes in favour of economic development. There is a balance that needs to be found, president Barack Obama addressed that directly with Hun Sen, the prime minister of Cambodia, and I think that is something that the Western nations involved in these deals are aware of, going forward.

EMMA ALBERICI: Zoe Daniel there in the Cambodian capital, we thank you so much for being there.